Signaling device for estimating distances.



I. U. SMITH. SIGNALING DEVICE FOR ESTIMATING DISTANCES. APPLICATION FILED AUG. 6, 1910.

1,'?5,9%9, Patented Oct. 14, 1913.

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SIGNALING DEVICE FOR ESTIMATING DISTANCES.

Specification o'f Letters Patent.

I Patented Oct. 14,1913.

Application filed August 6, 1910. Serial No. 575,895.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, JAMEsURrEL SMITH, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Berkeley, in the county of Alameda and State of California, have invented a new and Improved Signaling Device for Estimating Distances, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to mechanism for e'stimating distances, and more particularly distances at sea.

My invention comprehends a sending station and a receiving station,.the sending station being adapted to send out waves, disturbances or impulses of different character, and traveling through different media at difi'erent speeds, the receiving station being provided with means located in said different media and afiected by the waves, disturbances or impulses, in such manner as to cause two disturbances received at difierent moments to act upon the same indicating device, the interval of time elapsing between the two indications thus made furnishing a measure for calculating the distance apart of the sending and receiving stations.

More particularly stated, my invention comprehends the use at the transmitting station of an oscillator for Hertzian waves, or their equivalent, which travel directly through the ether at the speed of light, and a-bell or other device located under Water for propagatingacoustical disturbances, the receiving station comprehending a wave detector responsive to the oscillator, and also including a sound-controlled telephonic transmitter, both the transmitter and the wave detector being arranged passing through a telephonic receiver.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in both the figures.

Figure 1 shows both the sending station and the receiving station arranged in proper operative relation to each other:

Fig. 2 is a detail showing a section through the transmitter used as a part of the receivlng mechanism; and Fig. 3 is a sectional view of a portion of the device shown in Fi l.

lit 3 is shown the hull of a vessel and connected with this hull is a box 4c contain.

' ing a liquid 5 which may conveniently be oil or distilled water. Mounted within the box Lnpon a bracket 6 is a transmitter 7 which may he of ordinary construction or may, if desired, be made substantially as indicated in Fig. 2. In this instance, a body portion 8 is provided with a cap 9 and held between the cap and body portion is a diaphragm 10 carrying a movable carbon button 11. Adjacent to this carbon button and connected rigidly with the body portion 8 is another carbon button 12, and between these two carbon buttons are granules 13 of 1carbon or other semi-conducting materla Wires 14, 15 are connected with the transmitter and lead upwardly therefrom. At 16 is a wave detector which may be of any desired construction, and in this particular instance is a coherer of the so-ca'lled self-restoring type. A wire 17 is connected with this coherer and with the ground 18. At'19 is an antenna wire which is connected with the coherer and extends upwardly therefrom. A wire 20 is connected with the antcnna and coherer and also with awire 21 which leads to a battery 22. This battery is connected by a wire 23-with a receiver 24;,

' and the latter is connected by wires 23, 25

with the coherer. Whenever the antenna '19 is energized by electromagnetic waves, the coherer 16 is affected and the current from the battery 22 through the receiver 24 is thereby changed in intensity, causing the receiver 24 to give forth sounds. Again, when sound waves affect the transmitter 7 so as to vary the resistance of the carbon granules 13, the portion of the battery current passing through the transmitter 7 1s varied and this variation also produces sounds in the telephonic receiver 24 At the transmitting station an antenna wire 26 leads upwardly from a spark gap 2 7 and from the latter a wire 28 leads downwardly to the ground. A wire 29 1s connected with the antenna and spark gap and leads to a condenser 30. An inductance winding 31 is connected with this condenser and also with another condenser 32. A wire 33 connects the condenser last mentioned with the ground wire 28. At 34: is a secondary transformer winding which is connected by wires 35, 3.6 with the antenna 26 and ground wire 28. At 37 is a primary transormer windi adapted to act inductivelyupon the secondin close proximity to and" ary transformer winding 34. A wire 38 is connected with the rimary winding 37 and at 39 is a relay whicli is provided with a contact 40 which isv closed and opened as the relay is energized and deenergizied. A wire 41 connects the contact 40 with an alternating generator 42, and a wire 43 leads from the latter to the primary winding 37.

At 44 is a casing which is submerged below the level of the water 45. Mounted upon the lower end of this casing and depending from the same is a bell 46. This bell has a clapper 47 and connected with the latter is an arm 48. An air cylinder 49 is mounted within the casin 44 and is provided with a diaphragm p1ston 50, the diaphragm of which is shown at 50 and is both flexible and airtight. The diaphragm piston carries a plate 50 of insulating material secured to it, and a rod 51 extends from the diaphragm piston 50 to the arm 48 connected with the clapper 47. Air pipes 51, 52 lead to the air cylinder 49. By controlling a flow of air through the pipes 51, 52, the atmospheric pressure against the under side of the piston 50 may be varied, and in this manner the piston 50 may be moved upwardly so as to cause the clapper 47 to strike the bell 46. I do not show any valve mechanism or other device for controlling the fiow of air through the pipes 51, 52, as this part of the mechanism is old and well known.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 3, at 53 is a contact spring, the general position of which is stationary, and at 54 is another contact spring which is disposed partially within the path of travel of the upper portion of the diaphragm piston. When the diahragm 50 is moved upwardly according to Fig. 1,' the contact .spring 54 is pressed against the contact" spring 53 and when the diaphragm 50 moves downwardly the contact spring 54 releases engagement with the contact spring 53. The duration of the contact thus made and broken may be regulated within proper limits by aid of an adjusting screw 55, which presses against the contact spring 53. Moreover, adjustment of this screw enables the operator to accurately time the instant when the contact spring 54 engages the contact spring 53. The contact spring 53 is connected by a wire 56 with the relay 39, and connected with the contact spring 54 is a wire 57 which leads to a battery 58. A wire 59 connects this battery with the relay 39.

The operation of the transmitting station will now be described. The operator, by manipulating thefiow of air through the pipes 51*, 52 and causing the diaphragm piston 50 to oscillate as above described, thereby causes this piston to move periodically against the contact spring 54 and periodically forces the latter into engagement with the contact spring 53. Each time the contact member 54 is thus brought into en-' gagement with the contact member 53, a circuit is completed as follows: battery 58, relay 39, wire 56, contact spring 53, contact spring 54, wire 57, battery 58. This energizes the relay 39 and causes the contact 40 to close; this completes the following circuit: generator 42, wire 43, primary transformer winding 37, Wire 38, contact 40, wire 41, back to generator 42. As the alternating generator 42 is all this time in action, alternating currents are sent through the primary winding 37, and acting inductively upon the secondary winding 34 causes sparks to leap across the spark gap 27, thereby energizing the antenna 26 in the conventional manner and causing it to radiate Hertzian waves. At the same time that this occurs, the clapper 47 strikes the bell 46; that is to say, each time the clapper strikes the bell, the relay is energized, its contact is closed and the oscillator, including the spark gap 27, is thrown into action.

The operator by adjusting the screw 55 so times the stroke of the bell that the sound waves proceed from the bell 46 at the same instant when the Hertzian waves leave the antenna 36.

Theoperation of my device is as follows: The operator, located at the transmitting station (left of Fig. 1) by causingthe piston 50 to oscillate and,thus ring the bell, and at the same time successively energize anddenergize the oscillator, causes sound waves to proceed acoustically from the bell under water and Hertzian waves to proceed from the antenna through air. Sound waves transmitted acoustically through the water and arriving at the ship 3, afl'ect the transmitter 7. The Hertzian waves traveling through the ether reach the antenna 19 and afiect it in the conventional manner. Since, however, the Hertzian Waves travel faster than the sound waves, the coherer 16 is energized before any effect is produced upon the transmitter 7, and the length of the interval of time after the coherer is affected and before the transmitter 7 is affected, determines, or at least furnishes a measure for calculating the distance between the transmitting and receiving stations. When the coherer 16 is energized, by action of the electromagnetic waves upon the antenna 19, the following local circuit is completed:.battery 22, wires 21, 20, coherer 16, wires 25, 23, receiver 24, wire 23, to battery 22. This causes the receiver 24 to give forth sounds. When the sound waves through the water 45 and the liquid 5 affect the transmitter 7, the following circuit is thereby effected: battery 22, wires 21, 15, transmitter 7, wires 14, 23, receiver 24, wire 23, to bat-- tery 22. It will thus be seen that the acoustical disturbance traveling under water produces in the telephonic receiver 24 a sound analogous to that originally produced at the transmitting stationto wit. the ringing of a bell. It will also be seen that the Hertzian Waves traveling through the air, by energizing and denergizing the coherer, cause the telephonic receiver 24 to give forth sounds, not analogous to the ringing of a hell, but nevertheless having a definite periodicity analogous to the bell strokes. Further, that the sound of the bell is heard in the telephonic receiver at a later period than the corresponding periodical sound produced by the Hertzian waves. The operator by noticing the discrepancy in the time'interval can ascertain the distance apart of the sending and receiving stations.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

The combination of a casing, a sounding member connected with said casing, mechanism located within said casing and controllable by variations of air pressure for actuating said sounding member, a contact disposed within said casing and adapted to be opened and closed as said sounding member is actuated, an oscillator, a circuit connected with said oscillator and with said contact for the purpose of enabling said contact to throw said oscillator into and out of action, and mechanism located at a distant station and sensitive to electromagnetic Waves radiated from said oscillator and also sensitive to sound waves emitted from said sounding member.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JAMES URIEL SMITH.

Witnesses:

STEPHEN P. LAvEzo, ALBERT J. KRUTMEYER. 

